Georgia Lily

Georgia Lily
My Love Bug

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

God Winks ;)

Had to get out of my own headspace for a while, I have been angry! Not just a little angry but very angry to the point of wanting to scream at the top of my lungs. It's just not fair! I think myself around in circles trying to reason things out in my head. I started reading a book titled, When God Winks at You, I have yet to finish it. Anyway,yesterday two people called completely out of the blue and they both said something along the lines of nothing is too big for God and He can change any situation. This was very helpful. Then this morning, I prayed that God would speak to me and show me what to do, I don't even know what to pray for anymore, sometimes I just sit in the silence and pray God knows what is in my heart. Anyway, God answered my prayers, better than I could have expected. That morning I received a package in the mail, my sweet and caring friend that I met in Columbus. She sent the kids 2 shirts and this wall hanging that says,"Do not fear, I am here with you always." Exactly what I needed. In that same mail I received a newsletter from an evangelist and basically said the same thing, "Do not fear." What a loving father we have, even in he midst of the craziness God is still with us and is right there bearing the pain with us. Having a child with special needs can be so draining at times but at the end of the day when Georgia cuddles with me and looks into my eyes all the worrying and anxiety of the future drains away. It is then I can feel God the most saying its all ok, I'm not going to leave you. I do not believe in coincidences anymore, it's a special wink from my Loving Father.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

BIG Adjustment

Its been a few days since we came home, Friday was not so bad, but then came the days after...I would be fibbing if I said it was all I dreamed it would be. I know I want this blog to inspire people but I do not feel very inspired right now. Being home frankly stinks! Georgia yells a lot! She also wants to be held around the clock. This is impossible, I have to tend to Conerly which by the way is not the same kid I left a month ago, he was hardly standing when I left and now he walks everywhere and gets into everything. I feel so foolish for thinking that all our problems would vanish over night, wishful thinking I suppose. I feel myself in a dark place right now with only specs of light to be found. I have neglected prayer lately, I just do not understand why. Why we would have to trade one problem for another. And not just one problem but about 20. The biggest one being the unknown. I was unsure if I was going to post anything about this but the biggest worry is whether it not Georgia has autism. Yes, that is right, autism. I feel as though I am losing all control of everything around me. I need help! Help that only Go can provide and I need it fast.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Going Home!

Tomorrow is the big day! The day we get released from rehab. I feel anxious and nervous, excited and scared all in the same moment. I cannot wait to get back to our new normal, as in no seizures. Our new adventure starts. Tomorrow we should get discharged around 11 or so and home no later than 2. Happy day! I'm excited to see how Georgia will react to being in her own space, on her own turf. Only God knows. Georgia's therapists are really pleased with all the progress she has made in the last week. She is making better eye contact, interacting with the environment around her, babbling more, she is better able to regulate her emotions, she is doing some ancipatory play, and on and on. I know she will continue to get better and stronger. I will keep you posted on how we fare this weekend. Please forgive me for not updating much these last few days, I'm beat at the end of the day. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

One Month Seizure Free!

Can you believe it? One month seizure free, almost too good to be true. But by God's mercy, grace, and healin hands it is not, it's a miracle. The miracle that many people hoped for and prayed for has happened. Please forgive me if I get down at times because of the weakness in her hand and leg, sometimes I forget God did take a week to create the Earth and my human impatience sometimes gets the best of me. I am just thanking God for all the work He ha already done and for he work He has yet to do. Right now Georgia is getting ready to go to sleep after a long weekend of museums, shopping, lunches ate outside of the hospital and spending time with her family. She is playing with her dolly that she picked out today, the first doll she has ever really played with. I look back at this past month and it has been a struggle at times but I also look at all the good things that have happened. First and formost, no seizures. Starting to make good eye contact, focusing on the world in front of her, smiling, laughing, making more verbal sounds, giving hugs, pretending to use her play phone, and the list goes on and on. I have to Praise God for all these wonderful things He has given us, the chance to give Georgia a great and productive life. A chance to have her own family. A chance to go to college and fulfill all her dreams. I cannot wait to see what the next so months brings, the next year brings, the next 20 years bring. I see a whole lot more laughter and not so many tears. As I have said on the past and will keep reminding myself, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13

Friday, June 8, 2012

Giggles, Grins, and Laughter

Today was such a great day! Georgia hardly fusses in her therapies anymore and she walked a great distance without crying much at all. Of course she still needs assistance but not nearly as much as when we first got her. Sean's grandparents and mom came to visit and we got to take Georgia to Firehouse Subs. I was a little nervous that people might look at her scar and ask questions but no one really paid us any mind. This puts me a little more at ease for when we go home. This afternoon we were sitting around the duck pond and we were laughing and Georgia joined right in. She then laughed the rest of the day for no apparent reason at all, just the pleasure of hearing herself laugh. This makes me so happy, I told Sean that angels must be entertaining her. I met with the neuropsychiatrist and he gave me the results of her assessment, not as good as I would like but it's ok, I knew we would have a long recovery ahead of us. Cognitively she is at a 6-8 month level and 3-4 month language level. But he said she is basically picking up where she left off before her brain was hijacked by the terrorist aka seizures. I'm still going to praise the Lord for healing her and I know He is going to continue working in her. He is faithful to complete the work He has started.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Special People

   Tonight's post will be a little different, I would like to focus on some of the people that we have met here at Jacksonville. For privacy purposes I will not use their name rather an initial, and I would like to tell you some of their story.

1: J and her son J: J is a great mom to an incredibly strong boy J, J has tumors, there are only about 5% of the world population that have the same disease as this young boy. He had to have the tumor cut out of his brain and now he is recieving proton therapy. If you were to see J on the street you would not even be able to tell he is sick or that it will be a life long process with him, he is happy, joyful, funny, and most of all he loves life. What an amazing spirit this young boy has.

2: S is a young teenage girl who has a disease that causes tumors to grow in her body, she told me the name but I forgot, please forgive me. She gets a little down because of the pain in her body and that she has some facial weakness but again she is happy. She has had 5 surgeries in the last 4 years. She has a sense of humor and at her school she is apart of the academics team for her school, last year they placed 4th out of 80 schools, pretty impressive and she told me that she did not even study.

3: D is an older woman who had a stroke around the beginning of this year, she is so happy though and ready to go home, she had to have part of her skull taken out because her brain had swelling and she has to wear a helmet in case she were to fall but she laughs it off and says she cannot wait to throw it away.

4: J is a young teenage boy who was in a horrific ATV accident, he is paralyized and his parents will not know for about 12 months how J will fare. I have had prayer with them and they are some of the nicest, most attentive parents I have ever met. I think in another lifetime we could have been friends, they remind me so much of myself and Sean. Who knows? We might still be able to be friends, only God knows. Please pray for this young boy and for his parents to have the strength to endure this trial set before them. They have a long road to recovery ahead of them.

5: Sharon is one of the nurses that we have and by far the best nurse we have here. She has two sets of multiples, twin boys and twin girls. Can you imagine? I can't! I have one of each and that is enough to keep me busy, she calls her children her busy blessing. She is one of the nicest people I have met and she loves that Sean and I are always with Georgia. Sharon says that she is glad that Georgia has us because that means she does not have to worry whether Georgia will be taken care of when we get home.

6:Ashley is our physical therapist and we love her. We were talking yesterday about why she became a physical therapist and she says she just knew as soon as she shadowed one that this was made for her. She believes this is the job that God intended her to have. She has a quiet, reserved way but we love her and I can see Christ's love shining through her.

There have been so many amazing people that we have met that we otherwise would have never met. I believe that God puts people in your path to lift your spirits, to inspire you to keep believing in miracles, and while they are only in your path for a moment in time, they leave a lasting impression in your heart. "The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

* Today Georgia did well, she passed her swallow study so now she gets to drink whatever liquids she wants, no more nectar thick :) She is getting stronger on her legs, more walking and less throwing a fit. We also get a weekend pass, we can take Georgia out of Brooks as long as we stay close, so no we won't be going home but we are pleased just the same. The discharge date we were given is still a go for now, I do not forsee why we won't get to go home that day. Please keep the prayers going we still need them. Thank you!

Monday, June 4, 2012

Tears of Joy

   A lot has happened in the last two days, first Georgia pretended to play with her phone, as in putting the phone up to her ear, I thought at first that it was a fluke but then she did it several more times, not a fluke! She is taking more steps with both her legs; she is doing this without being prompted by the therapist. She also is relearning how to manipulate Mommy into getting her way, she wanted my glasses and I kept jerking my head to the side so she could not get them, she then decided that she was going to kiss me and then when my guard was down she stole my glasses. I was so happy that she kissed me I forgot that I did not want her to have my glasses. She has not kissed me in 6-8 months, just before her seizures changed and before her meds got messed with. Ahh, sweet relief to see that my child loves me and still knows how to get her way...I will take it!

   Today, little Miss Buggy woke up in a great mood, I think she decided Mommy needed to see her happy. A happy child equals a happy Mommy; when Georgia ain't happy, ain't no one happy! Today was one of the best days I have seen Georgia since before the surgery, it gives me hope that Georgia will be completely restored. God is so good, He knows when we need to be lifted and He gives us that boost just in the nick of time. Georgia did all her therapy in stride today, not to say that she did not have her meltdowns, she did, but she was able to recover and soothe herself quite quickly. I was quite impressed with was her last speech session, she was able to pick between two objects, even when she has to look to the right side. This is great progress, like I said previously, she was ignoring that right side.

   ASSESSMENT!!! I have come to hate those words, as a Mom of a child who has special needs, yes, it has taken me quite some time to swallow those words, I hate assessments because it reminds me how far behind my child is compared to her peers. Anyway, I heard that dreadful word today and I mentally prepared myself for the worst, so we got seated in the room and the doctor pulls out this large booklet and his suitcase full of "toys" used for the assessment and you know what my little Love Bug does? She completely amazes me! Why should we ever doubt that we serve a Big God, He is once again showing me how big He is and He is still in control. This time Georgia got a lot of 1's circled and not so many 0's (1: child has this skill 0: child lacks this skill). She localized to a toy by hearing the sound, she looked for something dropped on the floor, pulled a toy by a string, picked between two objects, pulled a rag to get another toy, she played with blocks, pulled a block out of a cup, she kissed her reflection in the mirror, and many other things. The doctor was very impressed with her and he told me that while we will have a rough estimate of where Georgia is now, it is a steady moving target, as we get further and further out from the surgery she will continue to learn and grow.

   To say the least I teared up a few times today. Georgia is doing so well, she makes me one proud Mama. We are only three and half weeks out from surgery and she is doing so much, much more than what she did before the surgery. So while we still have a long road of recovery left, I love every minute of getting to know Georgia all over again. And all the progress she is making is just amazing! Tears of joy. I was reminded today by a ceiling tile, 1 Peter 2:24 "He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” Georgia has been healed and I will continue to proclaim that.